readers challenge: generation gap

October 21, 2011

We wrap up our Generation Gap series this week with our readers’ celebration pages – birthdays and christmas. We love that everyone who participated has appreciated that these pages are special beyond the products and papers used on them – the memories that each challenge has evoked are recorded now for their children and beyond. Thank you so much ladies – we’ll get some special goodies out to you very soon!

Christine Rumley starts us off with birthday traditions. She writes: I've included lots of journalling about the way we celebrate birthdays in my family. It's very small type, but it reads "I firmly believe that a child's birthday is a special occasion and that the birthday child should feel like they are the most important person in the world on their special day. My parents made me feel that way and I do the best to make my children feel like that too. As a kid, my birthday parties were relatively simple. We didn’t have a big party every year, and when we did they were always held at home, mostly with family and sometimes with neighbourhood kids too. I remember how special I felt on my birthday when I saw that cake made especially for me. You kids have quite big parties and you share your special day with your cousins and school friends. They are usually held at specific venues rather than home. Bec, this year you went Zumba dancing, and Will, yours was at CSIRO Discovery Centre. I always make you a special cake in a design of your choice. I love doing that and seeing the joy it brings to your faces".

Heidi Barclay also chose birthdays with this gorgeous layout. How precious is that photo! The two journalling cards are hidden behind the photo and reads:-

This was one of my parties, I remember my dad always used to get me an ice-cream cake for my birthday's - that was also one of my favourite dresses which I was wearing.

We used to have clowns made from ice-cream cones and marie biscuits and filled with lollies inside, another favourite was red and green fizz pops (lolly pops) which looked like a flower arrangement.

Thanks to Agnus Kasprzak for sharing a different perspective on her family Christmas. She writes: I have always loved Christmas and although it might seem a bit strange to celebrate a traditional Polish Christmas on the other side of the world in the middle of summer, that's how Christmas at Baba's (Nan's) house has been for over 30 years since we moved to Australia.

Wigilia which means 'vigil' is traditionally celebrated with a Christmas Eve supper after the first star appears in the evening sky. It always begins with the sharing of Oplatek (a blessed Communion like wafer) by everyone at the table to wish good health and prosperity and is followed by a meal of beetroot soup (borscht) with mushroom dumplings, sweet & savory pierogi and various fish dishes. We always have Polish cheesecake and a rolled poopyseed cake for dessert before moving onto the fun part of opening all the presents that everyone has put under the beautifully decorated tree.

Finally, Rebecca Young dug out photos of both herself and her daughter with Santa. She writes: My journaling reads: The man in the red suit who only visits once a year. Growing up I used to be so excited knowing he was coming to visit me. Somehow, he always knew exactly what I wanted and always delivered so much more! You like Santa too and have been lucky to meet him a few times at the shops and at kindy. He is a very clever man, enjoy him as much as you can. "

This week I've used papers and embellishments by MME - Lost & found 2 collection.

October 13, 2011

It’s our tenth and final week of our generation gap series. We hope that you’ve enjoyed taking a wander down memory lane with our design team members and readers, and that we may have inspired you to think about approaching some of your own layouts in this way. A big thank you to those who have contributed, commented and enjoyed the series along with us.

In our tenth week we look at celebrations – birthdays, christmas and any other special occasions – what they were like ‘back then’ and what they’re like now.

Suz remembers her favourite childhood Christmas, the year Santa brought her a ‘wendy walker’ doll, and how she didn't’ know for sure when she first saw her that it was indeed a Christmas present. The Christmases of her childhood were more modest, less extravagant affairs than perhaps today, but no less magical! Suz has combined the beautiful Authentique ‘Wonder’ papers with Webster's ‘Home for the Holidays’ to create this pretty and nostalgic page. She has clustered embellishments either side of her journaling and photo for a streamlined embellished look.

Sue has used the All About Me range from Webster's Pages to create this page remembering how she celebrated birthday's as a child. Sue doesn't have lots of photos of herself as a child so she cherishes the few that she has. It's amazing though how much of a story one photo can tell. Sue vividly remembers the 'dolly ice-cream' cakes that she and her sister used to have to celebrate their birthdays.

This photo includes Sue's sister, two of her cousins that she grew up with and friends from school, most of which, continued onto year 12 with her. Looking at the photo, Sue can recall that she was wearing one of her favourite dresses! How funny! Sue's husband laughed at her fringe (and most of the other girls too) in the photo although he did tell her that the style is back in fashion now! Photos certainly do capture moments in time to be remembered forever.

This week our readers look at homes and lifestyles and how they may have changed over the years.

Heidi Barclay created this stunning layout above. Her journalling reads: This is where we settled when we first arrived in NZ, Feb 2000. We stayed at 3/10 Ridge Road Howick Auckland.

Christine Rumley has included lots of journalling detail in her layout. She writes: This week I used the Jenni Bowlin "Haven" paper collection to record some of my memories from my childhood home and the home we live in now. The photo on the left is my mum and 3 older sisters holding a baby me on the front lawn of my parents house, and the photo on the right is of my husband and kids on the driveway of our current home. I recorded some of the little quirks I remember from each of these homes in point form and put them onto the tags in the pockets. Some were happy memories like watching my kids playing in the sprinklers, and some were memories of weird decor choices, like the pink bath tub that my sisters chose when mum and dad built their house before I was born (thankfully they have replaced it now!) or the fact that my parents didn't have an oven in their kitchen until they renovated in 2004!

Agnus Kasprzak shares: I was recently looking through some of my mum's old photo albums and loved seeing how much things had changed inside our family home since we were growing up there. My mums house has really made a transformation and it's funny to look at all the daggy furniture and decor that use to fill it and I wanted to be able to share a lot of these old photos on one page so I created a pocket to hold them.

October 06, 2011

This week we look at how families have changed in terms of their homes, decor and just general lifestyle. We’d love to hear your experiences. Send us your pages by next Wednesday 13th October to aussiedt@iinet.net.au.

When it comes to the travel lifestyle, Danielle noticed a big difference between the travel her parents did to come to Australia as children and modern travel. In the sixties, it was still mainly by ship and the journey from England took about six weeks. Her mum remembers attending school on board the ship, as she made the trip three times in the mid to late sixties (at the ages of 5 and 8 years old).

When Danielle visited the English hometowns of her parents in 2005, travel was of course by long-haul flight and air travel is a regular occurence in her life. Danielle herself was 16 when she went on her first flight, whereas each of her children has flown within their first year of life. So the contrast between the sixties, the nineties and recent years is really quite noticeable!

While the page focuses on her parents’ journeys to Australia, simply dwelling on the topic of travel over time recalls all these other stories to mind. Within the travel theme, Danielle has made thorough use of October Afternoon’s Boarding Pass range on this layout, focussing in particular on the chipboard ship embellishment and world map background paper.

Iris still sees much of her Filipino Heritage present today even in the interiors of her home, the local hotels, and the favorite holiday destinations. The facade may be modern with clean lines but there will always be one or two classic pieces like a capiz or shell frame maybe, or bricks lining the walls. For this layout, Iris chose to use the Sunshine Broadcast line of Sassafras Lass because like most Filipino homes and decor, it is classic, subtle, and warm.

This week our readers looked at the differences in things like holidays and family outings.

Christine Rumley writes: Living in Canberra where the coast is a good 2 hour drive away means that trips to the beach are pretty special. As a kid, my family would make the long drive up to the Sunshine Coast every September school holidays to visit my godparents. Our annual visits to the beach are amongst my fondest childhood memories. My kids also get a huge thrill from trips to the beach and we visit the coast a couple of times a year. In Summer it's just a day trip but in Winter when accommodation is a bit cheaper and more readily available we stay for a few nights.

Agnus Kasprzak has beautiful memory recall of childhood holidays – we hope she has recorded them in hidden journalling somewhere in the layout! She writes: One of the things I looked forward to most as a child was our annual trip to the NSW Central Tablelands in search of forest mushrooms and wild blackberries at the beautiful Oberon pine forests during the Easter break. You had to time your trip just right, making sure there had been a good amount of rainfall followed by a couple of sunny days before taking the 2.5 hour journey to the forests.

It was so much fun to spend the day collecting bucket loads of the Saffron Milk Cap mushrooms that were often hidden under pine needles on the forest floor, making sure you didn't pick up the wrong sort which can be poisonous.

Another favourite were the wild blackberry brambles filled with deliciously juicy fruit that wouldn't even make it into a bucket because everyone just ate them straight from the bush! Several years ago we started making taking the trip with our children and they absolutely love it and also look forward to it every year.

Heidi Barclay has found this adorable photo of her on the beach as a child, and writes: As a child we would always go to the beach for our holidays, so when I think of a holiday, it always reminds me of going to the beach.

Finally, we love this photo of Rebecca Youngs daughter enjoying her first ‘bush bath’. Her journaling reads: "One thing that is common to both our generations, is that we've always lived in the bush, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. When I was growing up we would often travel to a local creek to camp overnight or have a BBQ lunch. Today, while we live in the Pilbara, we want to take you to experience the local waterholes and camping spots. It's fun to get out there and get dirty, have bush baths, sleep in a swag in a tent and eat every meal off the BBQ."

Rebecca has used MME doily stamps on the background and items from October Afternoon's Boarding Pass collection.

September 29, 2011

This week we look at how families have changed in terms of their holidays and days out have changed from one generation to the next.

We’d love to hear your experiences. Send us your pages by next Wednesday 6th October to aussiedt@iinet.net.au.

Janine was surprised by the fact that her childhood holidays and her own children's holidays are not that different! Mostly it is about spending time with family, as to go anywhere with 5 children costs a fortune, so it is always simple holidays such as camping trips when we do go on vacation. Janine's childhood was spent on a farm, and that made it difficult for the family to go away as animals always needed to be cared for, so most holidays were spent at home or she got to stay with her Grandparents.

Louise W has fond memories of a childhood where she was fortunate enough to go away for a couple of weeks every Christmas. They were spent at motor camps around the North Island, mostly in Tauranga where they spent countless hours doing the normal stuff - fishing, swimming and playing through the long, hot summers.

The Echo Park "For the Record" range was perfect for this 70's photo, with the colours and soft patterns echoing (excuse the pun) a bygone era. The blossom pattern created with texture paste and a Crafter's Workshop adds to the softness and slightly retro feel to the page.

Journalling reads: Annual Christmas Holidays spent at a motor camp in Tauranga. Fishing off the wharf and swimming at the Mount. Summers of sun, fun and family.

This week our readers looked at their own sports and hobbies as well as those of their children. Thanks to everyone who continues to share their experiences.

Agnus Kasprzak writes: I never really played sports when I was a child but I did grow up with a love of soccer and have many memories of watching the English Premiere League with my dad. Manchester United was our favourite team long before stars like Rooney and Ronaldo came on the scene - back then it was all about Eric Cantona and a young David Beckham thrilling the crowd. But it doesn't compare to the excitement of being there when my children started playing the game, cheering them on as they scored their first goal and being able to share a passion for the sport with them has been wonderful and it's nice to see that at least one of the goes for Manchester too ;)

Christine Rumley used some goodies from her recently won Jenni Bowlin prizepack to create the above layout! Her journaling reads: You kids started the "Aussie Hoops" basketball program at the ages of 4 and 6. So far you have played for 3 terms and your skills are developing rapidly. You look forward to going along every Saturday morning and you really miss it during the holidays. I started playing basketball when I was about 8 years old and it became a huge part of my life. I loved it so much that I ended up training, coaching or playing games almost every day of the week. It might not be basketball, but I really hope you both find a sport that you truly love. Some of my happiest childhood memories came from the sportsfield.

Heidi Barclay writes: I have based this layout it on my eldest's hobbie - we were fortunate enough to come down to Christchurch last year in March before we moved down in April and we were sooo lucky that she took these beautiful photo's of the Cathedral - something special for us to remember since both the earthquakes have destroyed it.

Finally, Rebecca Young’s layout reads: This Winter you've begun playing soccer for the first time. Your team is called "Rangers". You have training on Thursday nights and play on Saturday morning. By the end of the week you are very tired! I played soccer in Newman too, my team was called "Hearts." It was my first time playing too and I enjoyed playing on Saturday.

September 22, 2011

There’s a body of thought that says that kids are too busy these days – oversubscribed with extra curricular activities from sports to music lessons to dancing and gymnastics. Is it different from when you were a kid? Is there any time (or interest) in stamp and coin collections these days? Maybe you collected swap cards? Are you inundated with pokemon cards? Send us your pages by next Wednesday 29nd September to aussiedt@iinet.net.au.

Kathie and her sister both trained as ballet dancers for a great part of their childhood. Kathie’s sister in fact left school after year 10 to forge a career in the arts. In this layout, Kathie reflects that she would have rather played sports, particularly tennis and netball; however, her mother had different ideas. For both sisters it was strictly piano and ballet lessons; exactly as their mother had done many years before.

Kathie has contrasted a photo of her mother as a girl, in the focal photograph, with smaller index prints of herself and her sister. She used a base of Sassafras’ Sweetly Smitten papers – they are delightfully light and feminine with just a hint of a vintage overlay. As such, they were perfect for her theme, and for her photos which span twenty years. The layout is embellished with an eclectic mix of Prima flowers and odds and ends from Crate Paper’s Emma’s Shoppe and Restoration lines.

Most definitely a favourite pastime and one that Leeann has in common with her 2 eldest girls today. Leeann’s girls have an assortment of collections as did Leeann when she was their age. The only real different was Leeann’s little collections were found objects from second hand shops which ended up as her news at school each week.

Leeann created this page around the idea of bits and bobs using clouds, punches buttons, bling, overlays, pattern papers, inks and stitching. She also took a photo of one of the many collections that the girls have and also used a pic of the girls and recorded when they first started this collection. Leeann wanted to personalize the title so she added 3 simple words to it - just like me…

Thanks to our readers contributions this week. We love your shared stories each week, and this weeks about school days is fascinating reading. Thanks for continuing to contribute to this meaningful series.

Christine Rumely writes: My kids go to the same school that I went to when I was younger so I have included photos of each of us in our school uniforms. My journaling reflects the way that this common experience has made it easier for me as a parent to let go and allow my children to take this next step in their lives and also about the way that we find joy in being able to talk and laugh about the similarities and differences between when I was there compared to themselves.

Heidi Barclay: The journaling reads :- We started school at the beginning of the new year. I got this brand new suitcase not like the backpacks you have today. I remember there was this one little girl who cried the whole day - but I was a brave girl.

Agnus Kasprzak shares: I recently found a picture of my boy's dad from year 2 of primary school and decided to record his school yard memories for this challenge. I asked him what he remembers most about his days at primary school as and he says that while the school work seemed a lot easier than the work our kids bring home today, the teachers were not as relaxed and even though he was a good student he remembers the sting of the cane and our boys listen in disbelief to hear that this was the normal type of punishment back in our day. I have included some of these memories in the pull out tag under the photo.

Anthea Peterson writes: My first school experience was Pre-School. I attended on a full time basis due to Mum and Dad working full time. My own children however haven’t attended preschool full time, in fact they have only attended 1 day a week leading up to them starting school as I have had the luxury of being able to stay at home with them while they are growing up.

Rebecca Young writes: This week I've used papers from MME Lime Twist collection. My journaling reads: "As much as you say you hate school, you really do love it. You are very clever at reading, writing and counting. I loved school too! So much so, that I became a teacher. From Year 2 I began collecting my worksheets so I could use them in my own class!! At your school you have lots of materials and resources available so you can learn in a hands-on way instead of boring worksheets."

September 15, 2011

School days – best days of your lives or thankful the nightmare is over?! No matter what your recollections, this is bound to be a page that would interest your children, and your children’s children! Write about your memories, the changes, how much easier or harder kids seem to have it now…

It’s easy to see how proud Nic is in this photo, while Abby starts school, Nic remembers her own school days. Her journaling explains how Nic feels life back when she was a child was a little easier, with less pressure to keep up with the other kids, no cell phones, no facebook, everyone wore what they liked, and no one seemed to judge! This layout is a lovely chance to express how different things were back when Nic was a child, but also to record how things are for Abby now. Nic chose to use fabulous new release papers by BasicGrey – Piccadilly, due out soon, is a wonderful bright collection of amazing colours and patterns. Nic has splashed strips of colour across her page with varying papers and toned some of them down with white paint, just to let the photo shine.

Suz had reason to visit her old primary school earlier this year and was sad to find it was closing down. It was an old school and so near the centre of Melbourne that the land must be very valuable, but it’s a shame that it will no longer be there for future generations of little catholic children. Though she couldn’t find a photograph of her at the school she did find one of her older brother looking rather special in a blue corduroy suit, so she used that to juxtapose the old and the new photographs. You can recognise the distinctive arches in the background of both shots.

Suz based her journalling on information she found about the school’s history and her own memories. Click on the pic above to enlarge it to read. She used the unlikely combination of Bo Bunny’s vintagey Et Cetera range with Fancy Pants bright glittery Off to School embellishments.

We loved all the creative angles our readers came up with this week in the meals and foods challenge. How fun are comparing lunchboxes? I think back to my own soggy tomato sandwich and bruised apple and can’t help thinking today’s kids don’t know how lucky they are! And remembering little details like your own childhood meals will be a fabulous keepsake for your own kids in years to come – especially if they come with the recipe, like Agnus’s! Thanks so much girls for continuing to provide us with inspiration each week.

Agnus Kasprzak writes: My layout is about a family favourite recipe for Rosół pronounced (Ro-suh) which is a traditional Polish broth style chicken noodle soup. Soup is a staple part of the polish diet and and this particular recipe was always a favourite in our household when we were growing up. My mum still makes a serving of soup for us whenever we go to her place for lunch or dinner and she passed the recipe down to me (which I have added to the back of my journaling tag) because all 3 of my boys enjoy it so much, and I actually had to print his photo out twice because my 18 month old so got excited when he saw the picture of soup that tried to eat the first photo :)

Anthea Peterson: Growing up every night we would eat dinner at the table, we would eat every meal at the table as a family. Looking back it was lovely to have that family time to discuss our days and talk about family things. Now as a family we are so busy and caught up on homework, work and study it is hard to all sit at the table together, made especially harder by Shane being away as often as he is so dinner time is usually in front of the telly.

The meals we do have at the table are more special and treasured as it is usually when we are all together which isn’t often enough.

We loved that Christine Rumley printed her journalling on a paper lunch bag to fit in with her topic. Her journalling reads: When I was a kid, the contents of my lunch box were pretty similar to yours. Sandwich, fruit, yogurt, water. I might have had some dry biscuits like Cruskits or Sao's as well. To me, the most significant difference is the packaging and presentation. Mine used to be wrapped in Glad Wrap, a plastic cling wrap that was sometimes tricky for little fingers to open. Yours is in reusable plastic boxes. The school insists on it to minimise waste. Anything you don’t consume is returned home so us parents can monitor what you do and don’t eat and so we are encouraged to be environmentally friendly. I think it’s a great concept and it’s certainly not unique to your school. So I get back the wrap from Bec’s cheese, the packaging from the squeezy yogurts (which technically I should be providing in a reusable tub) Will’s empty Yakult bottle and the bits of Bec’s uneaten crusts. I have taken to cutting your apple to remove the core and peeling your mandarins so I don’t have to deal with the sticky remains at the end of the day. I find you are much more inclined to eat them that way anyhow, as I gather that the longer you take to eat, the less time you get to play!

We loved this fabulous grungy layout from Heidi Barclay. Her journalling reads: As a child, my dad would make a BRAAI (AKA BBQ) every single Sunday for lunch, and would make these fantastic black mushrooms on the Braai, that is something I will never ever forgot.

Finally, how cool is it that Rebecca Young has photos of two generations of Bubble’O’Bill icecream eaters! She writes: When I took this photo of my daughter eating a 'Bubble - O - Bill' ice cream it reminded me of a photo of myself eating the same type of ice-cream. These ice-creams are a favourite in our house and are obviously popular with the rest of Australia for them to still be available to purchase. I love how you get three flavours of ice-cream, a chocolate hit as well as a bubblegum all in one ice-cream!

September 09, 2011

This week in our Generation Gap series we’re tackling food and meals. What sort of differences would you notice when comparing todays foodstuffs to those of your childhood. This is a huge topic that could encompass family meals, celebration meals as well as types of snacks and the controversial children’s lunchboxes!

We’d love to have you join in our challenge – it’s not too late to start playing along. Send your layouts to aussiedt@iinet.net.au by next Wednesday 14th September for a chance to win prizes and have your layouts shown on our blog.

Suz wasn’t sure where to start with this topic. She settled on the differences in family meals and journals in a collage-y kind of way on stickers and journalling spots throughout her layout about the changes in meals. She takes a wander down memory lane recalling some of her favourite meals as a child as well as explaining about their current new tradition called ‘make it yourself monday’ when her kids get to plan and cook their own choice of meals (with supervision!) each monday night.

Suz has combined her favourite papers for this series – BasicGrey’s Green at Heart which provides some fabulous tones reflecting the 70’s along with SEI and cute Crate Paper Restoration stickers.

The color palette of Basic Grey's Indie Bloom line went so well with this photo of Iris' daughter having some of her favorite "Fruity Froyo". Translation - fancy ice cream. One of Iris' favorite snacks when she was younger was also ice cream, but Iris says it was never this fancy nor this pricey! Nicole's frozen treats are served in fancy ice cream boutique stores where she has the luxury of dressing up her very own frozen treats with mallows, chocolote chips, sprinkles, and other small candies.

Iris would sneak a few fruit pieces once in a while to make it a healthier treat. Some times her little girl would not notice, but most of the time she does!

This week our gorgeous ‘impromptu’ design team shares with us their recollections of chores in their day compared to now. There seems to be some agreement that kids get it way easier these days!!

Heidi Barclay writes: I have printed the photo's directly onto transparencies and then placed white cardstock underneath, I took the pictures on Sat as it just happened that the girls were doing chores for me..... We loved the idea of printing photos directly onto transparency for a nostalgic look!

Christine Rumley shares her journalling on this wonderfully colourful layout: "You kids are a bit little for chores yet, but i do try to encourage you to help me out by putting your dirty washing in the laundry basket. Some days even that little job seems to be too much for you. Instead you have (rather successfully) trained your baby sister to do it for you. I can't ever remember trying to con my sisters into doing my chores for me. Or perhaps I did try, but no one was willing to take on my somewhat unappealing task of cleaning the bathrooms and the toilet. Whilst I would prefer that you would put your own clothes out to wash, I will admit that I do have to admire your resourcefulness."

Rebecca Young writes: This week I've focused on responsibilities rather than jobs or chores. At 5 years old my daughter is responsible for packing and unpacking her school bag, hanging up her towel after a shower as well cleaning up her toys outside. My daughter also likes to help wash our car so we normally give her some pocket money for that which she puts in her piggy bank.

My responsibilities growing up included feeding our cat, getting myself ready for school, helping with the dishes and when I got older and could reach the washing line, I would take the washing off and fold it. Doing this layout has inspired me to do another layout based on the value of a dollar. I want to compare what I could buy with a dollar back in the early 80s to today. I think this would be fun and an interesting read in years to come.

Thanks to Agnus Kasprzak for this layout – how cool are the copper coins she has included in the denim pocket! Agnus writes: I was trying to compare the chores we had as kids to what our boys do around the house today and one of the biggest differences (apart from them having to do way less then we did) is the lack of grass for them to have to mow. Cutting the grass was one of those things that got assigned to us once we were old enough operate the mower. It was a messy job that seemed to take forever to through, and rarely got you any pocket money for your efforts but it had to get done and even now the smell of freshly cut grass often brings back memories of my childhood. Moving into a townhouse recently was a big change but also a relief to know that there would be no grass for anybody to have to mow.

Finally, Anthea Peterson found this treasure – a photo of her at the sink as a child! Anthea writes: I went digging through my album this week and found a photo of myself when I was about 4 doing some dishes, though it is a toy cup and it was more a game it was only a sign of things to come, with doing the daily dinner dishes becoming a regular chore for myself and my siblings.

Just as a sidenote, we might be tempted when taking a similar photo these days to crop in closer and not include the background detail – but its these very things that creates fascination and ‘sets the scene’ in older photos.

September 01, 2011

This week we’re looking at chores and pocket money. Even though neither of our two examples are typical suburban experiences – one includes memories from a hotel business and the other a farm - they might still provide some inspiration! What did you do for pocket money when you were a kid? Was it linked to chores? Did you have a set list of routine chores or did you just have to do as you were told?! Would you trust your children to do the same jobs at the same age as you were?

Suz Doyle really adored this little journey back down memory lane. That’s a tiny her in the photo above, sitting outside the sunroom of the hotel her parents ran when she was young. Because of this, her chores probably weren’t very much like other children's. They included collecting breakfast trays from outside guests rooms, changing linen and occasionally even answering the fabulous old plug and cord switchboard the hotel had. She tried to remember what jobs she had when she was a similar age to those of her children now, and actually she was surprised at the scope and responsibility of the jobs she was given!

In this layout Suz shows how to create a journaling heavy layout that doesn’t look too much like a whole block of journaling – dividing paragraphs into separate areas breaks it down into ‘bite size’ chunks visually as well as literally. She included a photo of her as a child and a switchboard similar to that she remembered, as she knows her kids clearly would have no idea what it was otherwise.

Leeann decide to ask her husband Quentin about what sort of chores he had to do as a young boy. As she knew already that it would be very different to the chores of kids today. Quentin is one of nine children and they all lived on a farm in Tasmania. So here’s a little insight to what Quentin’s chores were as a young boy.

As a 7-8 year old my chores on the family farm before we caught the bus to school were: Feed the potty calves with milk, we were not old enough, to do the milking that was the older kids job 10 year olds Collect the milk and sometimes the cream from the vat of milk; collect the bread from the roadside bread box then hurry to get washed up ready to catch the school bus. Once home from school if we were lucky sneak in 10 mins of tv then off to feed the calves, also the chooks, dogs, and move the goat onto a new patch of grass. Fill the wheel barrow with wood for one of the older boys to bring in, help in the vegie shed stacking shelves with spuds, tomatoes, pumpkins etc for sale. Then bath time, tea, followed by some tv then bed.

October afternoon farm fresh collection was just perfect for this page. The pattern papers were randomly cut into squares, distressed and then layered across the centre. To finish of the page Leeann also used some of the farm fresh shaped stickers.

This week we share our reader’s reflections on their daily routines and the differences between their own childhoods and todays. Recurring themes include more freedom, family and the comfort of routine. Thanks again to everyone who is participating.

We loved the embellishment cluster Anthea Peterson uses in her layout. She shares the following in her journalling: I don’t have much in common with my own children from my own childhood, but one thing we do have in common was that every day we would have to walk to the bus stop to catch the bus to school. My boys are lucky the bus stop is right out the front but it doesn't mean that they are always ready on time and often they are running out there with breakie in their hands like we did *hehe*.

For a cool and unique take on this challenge, Christine Rumley decided to compare family activities on a Sunday between her childhood and her children's. Her journalling reads: 2011 - Sunday starts with a couple of loads of washing, then we go off on a family bushwalk or trip to a local park. There's always a bike ride in the afternoon and usually a visit from Gran and Pop. We always have roast chicken for dinner." Then from my childhood: "Early 1980's - Sundays began with Sunday School, then we would go to Morling Lodge to visit Nanna. We often had lunch at The Canberra Club and went to Grandma and Grandpa's. On the way home we would stop at Lyneham shops to spend our 20c pocket money on lollies.

Rebecca Young takes a nostalgic view in her lovely layout and writes: I wanted to document my routine this year because my maternity leave expires in January. Compared to my own generation - I didn't get to stay home with my mum when I was little as she had to work. I'm very grateful to have had the time at home with my daughter doing 'mum' things.

Agnus Kasprzak has hidden journaling on her top tag which reads: I remember when we were kids and spending all your time outside was a normal part of the daily routine. It seems like such a different time, where parents were laid back about their kids safety and it was normal to stay out until dark every day. Hours were spent exploring the neighbourhood parks or swimming in creeks and waterholes with friends. And while our children have a chance to do these things today... time like this needs to be scheduled to fit in with a busy routine and mum or dad are never far away!

We love this fabulous fresh layout from Heidi Barclay. She wrote: I found this "To Do" on the fridge from my youngest daughter of all the things she needs to do before school, and thought this was perfect for this week's challenge. I start work early and every morning she calls me as part of her morning routine, it's so sweet that she does that. My journalling reads:- Mummy cannot actually remember what my normal daily routine was, but I do remember having to catch the train to and from school. We started school at 08h00 and finished at 2pm. I'm glad Mum found this list on the fridge, and I love that you call me everyday before you start getting ready, Love Mum.

August 25, 2011

If you haven’t already joined in, we’d love to hear from you. This week we’re looking at the daily routine – what did you do ‘back in your day’ that’s different from what your own children or kids of today experience. Mum’s after school baking, or fighting over who did the dishes, television before breakfast or walking to school – ring some of the everyday changes between now and then. Louise and Danielle both look in different ways at how the pace of life has changed.

Email your layouts to aussiedt@iinet.net.au. We’re loving the pages our readers are already contributing, but It’s not too late to join in.

When Danielle spent some time thinking about her childhood days, she realised that the single biggest difference for her own children is in the technology, but that's a whole other topic! One other significant difference, though, is in the freedom she and her sisters had as a child to explore the neighbourhood freely and walk to school alone from a young age. Although Danielle now raises her kids in a fairly safe area, she generally drives them, or walks along with them, to and from school each day.

School is something that we each have in common with the generation before us, in some manner, and is a great topic to think about how things change over time. Danielle has used a layered photo effect here to allude to the echo of the previous generation, even though she only used one single, modern photo. This was achieved by printing one of the photos in black and white, and layering the smaller colour version over the top.

Studio Calico Mister Hueys colour mist in Bluegrass has been sprayed over the background patterned paper to create a darker area, over which the Hambly textures rub-on was applied. Birds hand-cut from a second Studio Calico patterned paper, also from the Countryside line, flit across the page. Sassafras patterned paper has been cut into strips to create a photo frame and journaling strips. Jenni Bowlin milk cap chipboard buttons add a nostalgic feel.

Louise says: "One of the biggest differences for my children's childhoods, from my own, is the huge leap in technology. These days they all have computer access and are very technology savvy from a very young age. It's quite a change from when I grew up writing letters or being allowed to use the telephone."

Louise wanted to highlight this difference with a layout featuring her two boys on their toy laptops. Featuring some Sassafras Lass papers along with some of their 'Foldies" flowers with an old paper doily for detail, she has brought together the old and new in a modern, yet vintage look.

The journalling reads: "How different things are for you. We never had computers, we wrote letters. The world was a much slower place. You both are already computer savvy, and I can only imagine how people will communicate in your futures."

Congratulations to Christine Rumley for having our favourite layout last week – we loved how you pulled out an old photo of you and your cabbage patch doll to contrast against your current photos!

This week, we loved seeing and reading all your pages on technology. They’re all so different and yet the themes are strong and recurring ones – whether it’s phones, video games or computers - much has changed and we can have no idea how much more they’ll change in the future! What better reason though, to have some record of it right now.

Rebecca Young’s journalling reads: "You were born into a technology based world. It's all you will ever know. In our house alone we have an ipad 2, ipod, iphone 4, desktop computer, Wii console, Nintendo DSi, several digital cameras, wireless internet and two laptops which by today's standards, are ancient. At Primary School we had one Commodore 64 desktop computer in our classroom for the whole class to use. Today, schools have computer rooms or trolleys full of laptops that can be wheeled around the school and easily connected to wireless internet. Some schools have ipads for each student. I was in high school when my family bought their first desktop computer, now it's uncommon not to own a computer!

Holidays were spent driving in the car with the windows down, amusing ourselves. Nowdays, driving holidays are helped by DVD players in our car and games on the iphone or ipad to amuse the kids while Satellite navigation units direct us which way to go. Writing letters or cards were once the norm but have now been replaced with emails, skype, video conferencing or text messages. So much has happened since I was a kid, I can't help but think what is in store for you in the future." I could've easily written more!!

Agnus Kasprzak writes: Technology has come such a long way over the years and there was no shortage of topics this challenge could have taken me, but in the end I wanted to choose a topic that my boys would relate to and decided to do my layout about the Sony Playstation and the changes to computer gaming over the past 15 years since we began our family. I've included photos of the consoles we have had over the years and the larger photo of the controller opens up to reveal journalling where I have talked about how the games have advanced as well as listing some of the different types of games my boys liked to play.

Anthea Peterson writes: Attached is my take on this weeks challenge. The journaling speaks of when I was younger we didn't have a computer, in fact there weren't many families that did, but now there would be a computer in almost every home, sometimes more. This photo represents what we did as kids, that was to use our imagination, my son is using his imagination and playing with his computer while I was doing some study on mine.

Here's my layout for week 2 - technology. I chose to focus on the changes in video gaming systems between my generation and my children's. The Cosmo Cricket "Boyfriend" range which included retro Atari joysticks was my inspiration. Unfortunately we no longer have our old Atari so I sourced some images on the internet and compared them with the consoles and screen graphics of today's Wii systems.

My journalling reads:

"Will, you love all things electronic and video games are no exception. In 2010 you were lucky enough to get given a Wii console from Gran and Pop for Christmas. You pretty much only ever play Wii Sports or Sports Resort, but you would play all day if I let you. These days, you play with a remote that is completely wireless and motion sensitive. It is totally interactive, so you get up and physically shoot a basketball, swing a golf club or bowl a ball. You can even personalise it by creating your own Mii character.

Watching you enjoy playing video games brings back fond memories from my own childhood. In the early 1980's, before we even had a computer, my family owned an Atari 2600, an early pioneer of todays video gaming systems. It had a simple 8-bit graphic system and a memorable wood grain console that we plugged into the TV. It took chunky black game cartridges and had a solid black joystick which featured a single big orange button. My favourite games were Pac-Man, Frostbite, River Raid, Space Invaders and Asteroids, which later became the most popular Atari game of all time. My sisters and I had hours of fun playing Atari, even though it caused the occasional squabble. I once remember being so upset with my sister because she was beating me at Frostbite that I ripped the cartridge out of the console so the scores got wiped! I always recall that particular memory when I hear you and Bec arguing over the Wii. I guess some things never change!"

Heidi Barclay has done hidden journalling which reads:- Technology has certainly changed so much since I was your age, we had normal tape recorders and LP's - now you listen to music on your IPOD, or the computer, CD's, mobile phones which have computers and camera's on them, I had a instamatic camera with a 35mm film in it, nothing instant about that.

August 18, 2011

This week we’re looking at technology, and in terms of one generation to the next, this topic is huge! We’d love you to join in the fun with this theme by next Wednesday 24th August by emailing us your layouts to aussiedt@iinet.net.au.

This steampunk style layout by Nic Howard is perfect for our generation gap series. Nothing screams '’technology’ more than this collection of random embellishments, cleverly pulled together to depict the widening technological generation gap between Nic and her son Jacob. Nic had been wanting to attempt a layout like this for a while after being inspired by the amazing eclectic creations of artist Finnabair.

She started the layout by creating a base with Prima papers, a Tim Holtz mask and Glimmer Mists in various colours. Then she turned to a variety of Tim Holtz Ideology items for her embellishing; Word keys, grungeboard elements, tissue tape and coloured inks were bought together to provide a base for her photo. Journaling about the difficulties Nic has keeping up with the electronic items is tucked in several tags behind the photo, this leaves room for the messy gathering of embellishments, look closely to see the details; paperclips, buttons, brads, chipboard elements, laces, ribbons, word keys, washers and even the can tab off the diet coke she was drinking while this layout was being created!

Journaling:

Abby’s homework the other day: “Ask your parents if they had a microwave when they were little. If not, ask how it made things different”. I answered the question honestly. We didn’t eat as many quick meals or leftovers. This would be, of course, because we couldn’t heat things up like we do now. “Of course you could of, Mum!” Abby replied... “You used to rub sticks together to make fire, didn’t you?!”.

Seriously. I’m not that old. Although sometimes I feel it. I struggled daily with the things the kids talk about. Jacob’s talk of electronics sends me for a spin lately. The wifi and wii. X-Box, DS or even better (apparently) a DSi – sometimes it’s all too much for me. Maybe I’m not as old as having to rub sticks together to make fire, but sometimes I feel like it. July 2011.

Suz Doyle also has a journalling heavy layout and chose to focus her page on the technology of her childhood, while contrasting it with the ds’s and the ipads of her children’s generation. Uncharacteristically she combined purple in her layout with what she could recall of a 70’s colour scheme (when you got away from the browns and oranges, there were the purples) with BasicGrey’s ‘Green At Heart’ papers and Crate Paper chipboard embellies.

Here is her journalling:

Thinking back, the technology of my childhood held a lot more promise than it perhaps delivered. I’m focusing here on technology based games and activities that you could play on your own, rather like today’s ds’s, phones and tablets.

We had drawing stuff… Spirograph was in fact cool and I spent many a long rainy afternoon drawing circles within circles. It just worked with the whole 70’s decade. Etch-a-sketch was ace – paper-free, so environmental before its time, but it was pretty damned hard to do those angles and curves. Sketch-a-graph was just deplorable. Based on the premise that anything you traced with the pointy end then sketched with the pencil end, it sounded brilliant. But most things ended up with an unidentifiable drawing, and a frustrated child.

And then there was Simon. Who knew how many hours of amusement could be wrought by attempting to repeat an ever-increasing sequence of lights and tones? Simon kept his promise. The ubiquitous calculator was another popular choice – I spent many a spare moment testing it to see if it really got it right every time.

But the best thing? The old portable record player, that looked like a fat briefcase in two shades of 1970’s brown. It had two speeds and a crackly old needle and speakers in it’s lid or base, I don’t really know. We could only play the designated kids records because mum worried the either we or the needle would scratch good records, and we had what I would probably now call an eclectic selection.. from Bing Crosby to the Royal Guardsmen, via Elvis to the book and record genre of the likes of the Speedy Little Yellow Taxi (that always got to the fire first) and Bambi (that always made me cry).

This isn’t an quick and easy series and so we salute even more enthusiastically those readers who were moved to create and share their pages tackling the first theme in our generation gap challenge – leisure and playtime.

Thanks to the following talented scrappers (whose style we’re able to see in this series!) for the first pages in what could be amazing albums.. We’ve loved what you’ve written and how you’ve shared your journalling as well so we have shared that here too.

Agnus Kasprzak wrote: I've done my layout about a much loved Fisher Price ''Happy Apple' which has been in my hubby's family since he was a child and then passed down to all 3 of our boys over the past 14 years.

Anthea shares her journalling: I don't know if you can read the journaling but I spoke about how in my day we would roam the streets in the neighbourhood, ride on our bikes all day long and not have to come home till dinner time, even a ball and a park was enough for us, but now technology is so far advanced that they have developed things we could only ever imagine back then and our kids want it all. This photo is of my youngest playing Angry Birds on my Ipod, case in point LOL

Thankyou for the inspiration!!

Christine Rumley wrote: I absolutely love the concept behind this challenge, these layouts have been on my list of pages to do for ages. Thanks so much for the inspiration!

Heid Barclay writes: Here is my take on the first week of the new READERS CHALLENGE, I just love that I will be able to give my daughters an album about ME as a child.

Rebecca Young: I really enjoyed making this layout as I've always wanted to do some pages that compare my generation to my daughters.

It reads: "At five years old you are a very imaginative little girl. Since you were three and you won Noodle in a lucky dip you have both been inseparable. You cuddle him in bed every night and he's always packed in your bags when we go on holidays. This year we bought you a friend for Noodle called Tahlia. Both Noodle and Tahlia love your cuddles and the way you include them in your little made up games or on the slippery slide in the backyard. I had a Cabbage Patch kid called Julia when I was little. She was my favourite toy and I used to like playing Mums with her. She had a lot of clothes so I could dress her up. Although you have a lot of toys, you prefer to play your own games where you use your imagination. You are forever having picnics or playing cafes with your toys and teddies. It's interesting to watch you play teachers with your teddies and dolls because that's what I used to do too! I would sit them on the floor and pretend they were the students and I would be the teacher. I would write reports for them as is they were real! Apart from imaginary games you also like to play the Wii, perform puppet shows and concerts, blow bubbles, create cakes in the sandpit and play with your little sister. I wonder what job you will have when you become a grown up? Maybe a teacher like Mummy?"

August 11, 2011

If you were raised on bangers and mash for dinner, weetbix for brekkie, played in the dirt, got your bum smacked, had three television channels, changed the channel by getting up and walking, had a bedtime, recorded the top 40 from the radio on cassette tapes, drank from a hose, played in the creek, rode your bike all day without a helmet, school started with the national anthem …

Are you ready for a shiny new Readers Challenge series?! We’ve got a lovely one for you this time – it’s not about colour or design or techniques – it’s about you! More specifically it’s about the differences between the generations – we want to take a look at what we did ‘in our day’ versus the childhood our own children are experiencing today.

Each week we’ll tackle a different subject area, and so you can start thinking about the possibilities, permutations and photographs I’m going to list them here for you below.

We really hope you’ll join us on this journey into your own past as well as your children’s present – I know how much I’d love to read about the everyday of my parent’s and even grandparent’s childhoods, so these pages could become an invaluable gift for generations to come. Check out this site for some great prompts.

The Details

To kick this series off, this week we’re looking at comparing and contrasting just some of the differences in leisure and playtime between two generations. You could tackle this as a general topic, as Sue has done in her layout, or just choose one aspect to focus on and just write about that as Kathie has in her page' ‘Doll Houses’.

If you’re stuck for photos of your own childhood, don’t let that stop you! Why don’t you just write down your own memories and include current photos. That’s a great way of providing contrast.

If you don’t have kids, don’t let that stop you! Share something about any two different generations, perhaps yours and your parents or grandparents.

If you can’t think of what products to use, don’t let that stop you! Below we’ve included suggestions including some of our favourite suppliers - many of whom are currently producing wonderfully nostalgic designs, and patterns and colour palettes from bygone eras. Having said that, you are free to use any product you like – as long as a good percentage of it comes from Aussie Scrap Source suppliers!

Please send images of your layouts to us at aussiedt@iinet.net.au by the end of next Wednesday 17th August. They will be judged by the Aussie DT and the weeks favourite will receive a fabulous prize pack.

If you participate in each weeks challenge, at the end you’d have not just a prize for completing every week, but an invaluable record to include in your family albums. Kathie Link and Sue Tonga provide some inspiration to start you off…

Kathie remembers the playhouse in the backyard of her Grandma’s house. Her mother had played in it as a girl but by the time Kathie and her sister came along, the house had fallen into disrepair and wasn’t accessible for playing in. Kathie thought it must be wonderful to have a house like that to play make-believe. Probably as a result she has always had a fascination for dolls houses.

When Kathie had her son she didn’t expect that playing with doll houses would be in her future. When he was a toddler she would borrow toys from the local toy library, but always steered clear of the pink dolls houses. Imagine her surprise then, when he himself bee-lined for them! She chided herself for her stereotyping. Because little boys like to copy daily life just as much as little girls.

Jamie borrowed several doll houses during his time at the toy library. And Kathie had just as much fun as he did playing with them. Times have changed though, now that he’s nearly six. He turns up his nose at the photos of himself playing with the dolls and the houses. Just not cool Mum!

Kathie’s layout features Crate Paper’s Emma’s Shoppe collection, tempered with a few boyish bits and pieces from Toy Box. The journaling cards from the Accent Cuts patterned paper make great photo mats for small photos and add lovely pops of colour to the background.

Sue has wonderful memories of a childhood spent enjoying the outdoors. She and her sister climbed trees, played in creeks catching guppies and turtles, explored the canefields and even rode wild horses! To capture some of those memories, Sue designed a layout with a picture of her Mum with her two children and then added a smaller photo of herself and her sister when they were small. Sue attached the smaller photo to her layout by simply sewing down the left side.

This left the space behind the photo free, so that a journaling card can be slipped in behind. Sue was born in the 70s so the gorgeous colours and patterns from the Sunshine Broadcast range from Sassafras were perfect to use.

So, are you game to join our Readers Challenge? Do you find yourself, to your dismay, starting sentences with ‘When i was a kid…? What did you do spend your play time doing when you were a child? How is it different to what todays kids do?

Tomorrow .. check back to find out the winners of a couple of past challenges, and some new Echo Park inspiration…